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A bungalow reimagined

Originally published in the Globe and Mail on Oct. 29th, 2009

Architect Paul Dowsett wraps up our tour of a fantastic Bluffs-area renovation/rebuild with an apology: "I'm finding these interviews harder because all of this stuff comes so naturally to me I keep thinking I'll forget something," he says with a laugh.

The "stuff" in question is sustainable, Mr. Dowsett's stock-and-trade. In this re-imagining of a small, one-storey bungalow on Scarborough's Brooklawn Ave. into a two-storey, medium-sized home, the architect has implemented many features found at his own residence (featured here this past June) such as New Brunswick-made argon-filled wood windows, radiant floors and a highly reflective Galvalume roof with a solar panel to heat the hot water supply.

Homeowners Margaret and Peter Kristensen, however, are reminded every day that the environmentally responsible choices they've made were the right ones. "It's just so comfortable and the air is so nice," says Ms. Kristensen.

It ought to be. In the basement utility room is the heat recovery ventilator, which expels stale internal air for fresh, but not before it extracts existing heat. Nearby, the many home automation units that control lighting, heating, music and security allow the homeowners to interact with the home from anywhere in the world via computer. With a nod to future legislation, there's a sprinkler system but, unlike the old type that holds rusty water in the pipes, this one is constantly refreshed every time a tap is turned on.

Yes, parts of this project are complicated, but others were a no-brainer, like location and design. The Kristensens purchased the tidy little home in 1972 and raised a family here, but, as empty nesters, found the many extended family get-togethers were difficult to shoehorn in; since they loved the area, the solution was to expand.

However, they'd already decided to buck the neighbourhood trend of teardown-and-replace with a "cookie-cutter" builder's home in favour of something "different." The couple had seen Mr. Dowsett's work (then a principal at Scott Morris Architects, now owner of sustainABLE) and thought, rightly so, that he'd be capable of a renovation/reconstruction that blended in with the existing mid-twentieth-century housing stock while also being a product of the early twenty-first.

"You start not knowing what you want; it was really Paul who influenced the style of the house because he knew we wanted to stay sympathetic to the area," remembers Ms. Kristensen. "It's a very emotional thing when you do this."

So, keeping emotion and context in mind, Mr. Dowsett looked to Atomic Ranch magazine--which celebrates the humble 1950s ranch style aesthetic--for inspiration rather than his own 1915 green reno near Danforth and Jones avenues. He found it in a 1953 development of L-shaped plans in Lincoln, Nebraska called "The Trend Homes" by Strauss Brothers Company.

"So you get these rooms where you get light from three sides, and that's happening in all parts of the house," he explains. Most renovators, he adds, would just "tack a big projecting box" onto the back of the home without considering light penetration or the way the sun affects enjoyment of the patio. By creating an L-shape, the patio slid into the space where the two sections meet: "At noon, in the high summer sun, [the patio] will be in shade, which is more important, and then in the evening when the sun is over there," he points to the sky, "there gets to be some sunshine at dinner time."

Inside, evidence of this simple technique for harnessing light abounds. In the foyer, light from the frosted glass door and big window shakes hands with photons pouring into the long window over the sink in the fire engine red galley kitchen, which melts into more light along the living room wall; finally, the west-facing living room windows at the back of the house pick up the slack. In the dining room--now big enough to hold over 20 diners if need be--there is light on three sides also.

Upstairs, light penetrates from opening skylights (which close automatically when it rains) and additional large windows. As a bonus, the long strip window over the bed frames a new view of Lake Ontario. High, peaked ceilings with fans keep warm air pushed down.

In addition to things sustainable, Mr. Dowsett's design includes things sensitive to the homeowner's personal needs, such as the three fireplaces and a two-person steam shower in the ensuite. A small powder room on the main floor near the dining area has an antechamber that provides storage and peace of mind for guests: "A big thing of mine is that you shouldn't go out of the powder room directly back into the party; you've got a little bit of time to get yourself back together before you're back to the dining room," he explains. The street façade pays tribute to the original design via a front porch that carves away the south corner. "It was a big hit with the neighbours that we kept that porch," says Ms. Kristensen.

Overall, this is a house that both pays tribute to what was once there yet doesn't cram in features that "push it out of the market of its neighbourhood," says Mr. Dowsett. "I think that more renovations should be done like this in these midcentury neighbourhoods.

"Sensible plus sensitive equals sustainable," he finishes. "It's almost an equation."

Home lessons on going green on a tight budget

"Greens are good for you." "Save your pennies." "Don't run with scissors."

All that nagging was enough to make you hop on your Green Machine (by Marx Toys and way cooler than the Big Wheel) and ride off to join the circus. Too bad all that broccoli weighed you down.

But 1970s moms were wise. So too is twenty-first century architect Paul Dowsett: He agrees that green is good for you and, should you decide to embrace sustainability as a way of life, he can save you a lot of pennies.

You might say Mr. Dowsett, 47, is a green machine. From the greening of mega-institutions, schools and commercial buildings to the reworking of an 8,000 square foot 1935 art deco home into an Eco-Deco showplace for Mr. David Daniels (featured in this space twice), he's doing the big money stuff, with LEED accreditation to back him up (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

His own 1915 home in the Danforth and Jones neighbourhood known affectionately as "the Pocket" is an example, however, of how to go green without going broke.

"Everything here is inexpensive because I have a very tight budget," he laughs.

Starting at the top, literally, is the Galvalume roof. While the aluminum-zinc alloy coated sheet metal costs twice as much as asphalt shingles, the material has a 50-year lifespan that's been proven in the salty wet Maritimes. It can be installed "right out of the factory" by any roofing contractor, meaning installation costs are comparable. Green-wise, the fluted shape allows hot air to travel up and vent away before heating the attic, and the highly reflective surface acts in much the same way as the high-albedo paint used on Mr. Daniel's residence.

Hot water is generated by a roof-mounted solar panel. Heat collected at the panel travels in a glycol solution to the mechanical room to warm cold municipal water via a heat exchanger, then it's stored in a tank. When hot water is needed for the old radiators, the new radiant floors (in the addition) or faucets, it travels through a tankless water heater, where an extra heat-boost is applied if needed.

Wide steps of Brazilian ipe wood (also known as "iron wood" because of its durability) leading up to the columned front porch--a nod to the Texas birthplace of Mr. Dowsett's partner--fool the eye into thinking the narrow 16-foot home is much wider. When purchased in 1997, six rooms were crammed into the 400-square foot main floor; today, it's an open concept dining room and kitchen area, and the living room now occupies a seamless 2005 addition Mr. Dowsett tacked onto the back.

Well, it would be seamless were it not for the light-well/courtyard. This cheap and cheerful feature, which gives a clue as to where the original house once ended, brings much-needed southern light into the middle of the home, which allows for passive solar heating. It also positions the double-gazed, low-E, argon-gas filled wood-frame windows across from one another so that, when opened, air circulation is improved. It's a little gesture, but it achieves much: "There are maybe three or four evenings a year that are uncomfortable," says the architect.

Upstairs, notable in the front room is the high ceiling, which Mr. Dowsett and partner Ron Lambert reinforced with scissor-trusses so it could be peaked (it was a flat, low ceiling) and a ceiling fan installed. Interestingly, although Mr. Dowsett has no plans to sell, the master bedroom facing the back garden has been designed with symmetrical closets and big windows on either side so that, should a larger family move in one day, the room could be easily split into two children's bedrooms.

Not only has the couple reduced their energy use, they also practice reuse and recycling: Original, ornate radiators were stripped and repainted at an autobody shop, the iron railing cradling the sexy staircase comes from Mr. Dowsett's childhood home, there is gently used mid-century modern furniture here and there, and the brick pavers in the backyard were once the back wall and chimney of the house before being removed for the addition.

The home is not a techno-geek paradise of wind towers, storage batteries and geo-thermal heating, yet, with a "series of small choices" Mr. Dowsett has maintained the same amount of energy use while almost doubling the living space.

He enjoys making green choices so much, he wants to help others with theirs. After over two decades at big firms, he'll be hanging his own shingle, sustainABLE, in the "green-collar" Leslieville neighbourhood in the next few months: "Average people are probably intimidated by a large firm, they don't want to pay those fees...and I know that there are a lot of houses in this city that are in the mid-range of 300 to 500 thousand dollars," he says. "All of those people, if you asked them, would want to do the most environmentally responsible thing, they just don't know where to start."

By Paul Dowsett (with contributions from Nate Hendley)

Originally published in the Pocket Newsletter, Volume 9, March 2007.

Many of you may have noticed the dumpsters, concrete rubble and other signs of havoc at 4 Queen Victoria Street over the past while. At our house, we have been trying to follow some very basic principles of sustainability and urbanism or community development, to be as "green" as our resources will allow.

Before we bought the house in 1997, we decided we wanted to work within, and intensify, the existing urban infrastructure of Toronto; use the city and the resources that were already there; and rehabilitate an existing house. Our realtor led us to the Pocket, and after we saw it, we looked nowhere else.

The Pocket was very affordable and starting to become a highly desirable neighbourhood. We moved into one of the most dilapidated houses on the street. Our first steps were to make the house habitable and to improve its appearance. Our more recent renovations in 2006 have built on this foundation.

For out latest renovation, we decided to:

• Hire a contractor from the neighbourhood. Transportation requirements were greatly reduced, and we had a chance to get to know another Pocket neighbour.
• Reinstall the front porch to maintain and encourage contact with the community.
• Reinterpret the traditional east-end Toronto iconic form of a house, with its dramatic steep-pitched roof gable, bay window and front porch, while concealing modern, flexible, open-plan living spaces within.
• Create a central courtyard to allow natural daylight and breezes to penetrate deep into the house. This passive solar energy combined with active cross-ventilation reduces the need for both interior lighting and air-conditioning.
• Capitalize on existing native deciduous trees and vines to provide shade in the summer and allow heat energy (from light) into the house and the ground in the winter. We have also planted some new trees for the future.
• Encourage our neighbours to maintain a simple chain link fence as green-screen between properties. This uses little material, is cost-effective and causes minimal environmental impact. It also provides a trellis for vines.
• Practice xeriscaping by planting native, drought resistant plants, which also provide a natural habitat for birds, butterflies and other native pollinators. Our plants cool the air in summer, absorb pollutants, produce oxygen, block noise, provide privacy, protect us from the sun, reduce air conditioning needs, and reduce storm-water run-off and soil erosion.
• Place windows, which can have a major effect on a home and its power usage, so that they maximize daytime lighting and cross-ventilation. We have minimized windows facing west, to decrease maintenance and late afternoon solar heat gain. We installed argon-filled, double-glazed windows with pre-finished wood sashes and frames to reduce summer heat gain and winter heat loss.
• Install a low albedo (highly reflective) locally manufactured galvalume roof to minimize solar heat gain and extend the longevity of the roofing material. Not only does this reduce the amount of asphalt shingles going to landfill every 10 to 15 years, but also the roof can be recycled at the end of its life.
• Direct clean rainwater run-off from the roof to the gardens to minimize impact on our municipal water system.
• Install a solar water heater to pre-heat the incoming municipal water (www.generationsolar.com for more info). This pre-heated hot water runs through an ultra high-efficiency gas boiler and goes to faucets when hot water is needed. The home's original cast-iron radiators, new high-efficiency radiators and a radiant in-floor heating system in the basement and new living room are also heated by the same high-efficiency boiler.
• Provide high second-floor ceilings with reversible ceiling fans to effectively manage rising heat.
• Build with wood framing instead of steel framing. Wood studs take less energy and create less pollution to produce than steel studs.
• Use Roxul insulation, a locally manufactured mineral wool made from molten slag, a waste product of steel production. Roxul is naturally fire resistant and will not be affected by occasional moisture. It doesn't degrade or support mould - features that fiberglass insulation can't claim.
• Select natural interior materials such as slate and hardwood floors and natural exterior materials such as cedar shakes and pre-finished, solid spruce wood siding. Wood is one of the most natural, renewable, durable and sustainable products.
• Use Ipe (pronounced ee-pay) decking instead of cedar or pressure-treated lumber. Harvested sustainably in South America, Ipe offers an attractive color that ranges from a rich russet to a classic reddish brown with a very smooth surface. It is extremely durable, and resistant to splitting, splintering, rot, insects and fire. Ipe is also slip resistant when wet and virtually maintenance-free. It lasts three to five times longer than redwood and cedar while still being competitively priced.

Our aim is to have our renovated house consume less energy and produce less pollution than the original house did. Later in 2007 I'll be able to tell you how we did (and thanks to everyone in the Pocket for their patience during our renovation process!).

If you are interested in making your house more sustainable, check out the City of Toronto's report, "Making a Sustainable City Happen: The Toronto Green Development Standard 2006." For more information, see www.toronto.ca/environment/greendevelopment.htm. And if you would like to know more about 4 Queen Victoria, please give me call at (416) 469-5453, or email paul@sustainable.to.